High Def Digest: Sony plans Blu-ray player price drop for Christmas

[Trebar]

Originally Posted by bazie

you are right. I think though they will have a player in stock for 200 bucks until christmas. Most likely indefinately.

The A2 is done at 99, but the A3 will hang on at sub 200

Yep, $179 at Sears. That is still sub-par to blu-ray specs but way under blu-ray for anything new for the price. <Keeps searching for that $300 price point>

[radagast]

Originally Posted by BadAss

$399 players are a bit underwhelming when you see $99 HD-DVD players.

And a sub $99 price is underwhelming when you realize that:

1) It's temporary
2) It's made by a company with a poor BBB rating
3) The movies that are available are expensive

And

4) IT DOESN'T PLAY 80% OF THE HIGH DEF MOVIES (BD) THAT PEOPLE WANT MOST!!!

[docjan_uk]

hmm... in reality this would pit 199 buck players against 399 buck players.
hmmmmmmmm, I'd like to see another fiddy to a hundred bucks off that, and who knows, maybe have a similar short term deal or two with another hundred bucks off for a bit of publicity. I'd bet there would be lots of demand for a $199 player.

They need to be a little flexible since they're not the only format in the war if you get what I'm saying.

[NutsAboutPS3]

Originally Posted by joeorc

if both are new HD movie players that were just released as new technology why is one so cheap and the other is not..than look at who makes which players...gee there is only one HD DVD player that cheap and only one company makes HD DVD player's why does all the other companys make Blu-Ray players but not one other company make HD DVD players shown in any of the stores thats your answer..

Problem is people will not be aware of the details, they will just see the prices of HD DVD players and Blu-ray players and think that HD DVD is inherently cheaper for some reason. The HD DVD FUDsters love to perpetuate the myth that HD DVD technology is fundamentally cheaper than Blu-ray, and they'll keep pointing at $199 vs $399 player prices to back up their argument (even though we know it proves nothing). It's a great shame the Daewoo player isn't arriving sooner, I think that will be a real asset to Blu-ray if it's sold at a keen price.

[JimPullan]

This may surprize some here - but there are products that offer superior performance, features, and advanced functionality that will cost a little bit more to enjoy, over other products. There are some realities you must wake up too, like your not going to see Baskin-Robins Ice Cream at your grocery store price, why? . . . . quality ingredients cost more to achieve that wonderful experience. Negoiate well, wait on the season of sales, but be prepared to pay for quality, if you expect quality! [Jim]

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by westend

My Local Walmart never sold any HD-DVD players, but this morning they had 20 of them at 8:30 am. I stopped after work and they were all gone.

The 99 dollar sell off may back fire a bit when the A3 are more expensive during real X-mas shopping season.

good to know they are gone. 40GB PS3 is sold out too and requires back-order, while this inferior player don't

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by JimPullan

This may surprize some here - but there are products that offer superior performance, features, and advanced functionality that will cost a little bit more to enjoy, over other products. There are some realities you must wake up too, like your not going to see Baskin-Robins Ice Cream at your grocery store price, why? . . . . quality ingredients cost more to achieve that wonderful experience. Negoiate well, wait on the season of sales, but be prepared to pay for quality, if you expect quality! [Jim]

Exactly. You can't expect to get a Lexus and Hyundai prices!

[unreal1080p]

Looks like I was right about the perceived value of HD DVD being only 99$

http://www.dailytech.com/Best+Buy+Re...rticle9519.htm

[bazie]

Originally Posted by Dotpattern

Exactly. You can't expect to get a Lexus and Hyundai prices!

definately not. But a lot of people by hyundai's and very few buy lexus's.

[darinp2]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

Looks like I was right about the perceived value of HD DVD being only 99$

http://www.dailytech.com/Best+Buy+Re...rticle9519.htm

I wonder if Toshiba is funding that (giving people HD-A3s when they ordered HD-A2s and Best Buy didn't have enough), partially or in whole.

--Darin

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

Looks like I was right about the perceived value of HD DVD being only 99$

http://www.dailytech.com/Best+Buy+Re...rticle9519.htm

And that only concern a limited number of customers who could slip in an order while the A2 was at $98 (for two days I think?).

But damn, Bleeding $200 per unit sold, that's a slap in the face of accounting

[raggarichie]

I just got back from of those Nexchange stores( Military service members shop there) and one of the Salesman told me that he got word that the Sony BDP-s300 is going to be on sale for the Christmas season for $299 at there stores.

[Dotpattern]

Originally Posted by bazie

definately not. But a lot of people by hyundai's and very few buy lexus's.

And that's the point - people shouldn't confuse quantity with quality.

[swdvader]

Sometimes you get what you pay for. Why would anyone buy an inferior 1080i player. Why dont they just throw in a dvd player thats not progressive scan. I shelled out 400 for my sony bdps300 and 700 for the bdps500. A little steep but everyone who has seen the picture on my TV cant believe how awesome it is !

[thebluemax]

Originally Posted by BadAss

$399 players are a bit underwhelming when you see $99 HD-DVD players.

May be true but the Dud player is a piece of junk, while the BD is first class.

[turfman1964]

Right now you can get the Samsung BD-P1400 for 369 or 389 depending on which website you look at and 7 free movies. What a deal and the great thing about this player is it will actually pass through the bitstream for trueHD and DTS HD-MA. If you have a new reciever that can decode it you are all set.

[Elandyll]

What do you guys think Samsung and Sharp will do to their new entry level players with that pricing ?
Same for the old 1.0 models.

I think the BDA is playing it for the long run and hasn't quite played all of their cards yet, while I don't see what Toshiba can do after $169 A3's and fire sales of a few thousand crappy HD DVDs A2's at $99 ...

Toshiba is already playing the scorched earth strategy (if I do not win, nobody will - aka they are killing the market with dumped prices), and that will not only damage their reputation with the larger public, but also grant them the ennemity of a large part of the professionals in the electronics business. When you see HD DVD fans replying that Sony does it too, it makes me laugh. Not only Sony is still trying to protect its partners (by keeping a PS3 and BDS 300 at reasonable prices), but it also earns money on software sales, which Toshiba does not (aside from a meager royalty on small volumes).
At this level, it's either out of spite, or they are delusional in thinking they can cash a quick victory. There is obviously no long term thinking here.

Although, when you see them partnering with Sony in the background (Cell factories, key components of the PS3's), you gotta think that they are trying to save something for the future ...

[TruBlu2]

Originally Posted by BadAss

$399 players are a bit underwhelming when you see $99 HD-DVD players.

the 99 is for a very limited time to blow out the old model.

199 is the new price from toshiba

199hddud versus 299Blu-ray is a nice price battle that Blu-ray would win.

[blu2]

For those who wonder where the BDA vendor's heads are on price cuts, see the following (2nd paragraph in particular):

Tim Baxter, Samsung’s executive vice president sales and marketing CE division, also said Samsung has no plans to drastically cut prices of its Blu-ray players. In fact, Samsung plans to launch a new retailer marketing program, the Innovation Campaign, which promotes its $999 Dual Blue-ray/HD-DVD player with high-end displays as part of a full home entertainment solutions.

The target audience for high-definition DVD, Baxter said, is still the early adopter or cinephile who is willing to pay a premium for the experience.

http://www.dealerscope.com/story/sto...ection=Unknown

So, they still think pricing for mass adoption is a ways out.